“Some (of the accusations) are in the form of slander, some are based on inaccurate information. Our machinery will try to address it.

“We will handle it, we will ignore what does not need attention and where we feel it won’t have an impact, but we will consider each case. I am not worried at all,” the PAS candidate told reporters after a campaign walkabout in the constituency.

However, Samsuri did not clarify the nature of the accusations.

Last Sunday, Samsuri said the by-election was unnecessary because it placed a burden on the voters, requiring them to go to the polls for the third time in a year.

He said the by-election had been “imposed” on voters because some “disappointed” people were unhappy with the Islamist party’s victory in the 15th general election (GE15).

The Kemaman by-election is a straight fight between Samsuri, who is also the Terengganu menteri besar, and Raja Affandi Raja Noor, former chief of defence forces and a retired army general, nominated as a direct candidate by Barisan Nasional.

The by-election will take place on Dec 2 with early voting set for Nov 28.

The by-election was called following an election court’s decision which annulled the victory of PAS candidate Che Alias Hamid in GE15 last year. The court held that the distribution of government aid to voters during the campaign period constituted election bribery.